Hero Complex
by RiotRunner
Summary: Percy has, and will always make the heroic decision. But do we always see the consequences of the decision on others? It's not just loyalty that causes him to sacrifice it all and do the right thing; it's his vast hero complex. Journey through different instances where Percy's heroic intentions cause more issues and confessions than one would think.


Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.

_I am literally going to kill myself with all these ideas. I decided to put this out because, facing facts, I have multiple one-shot ideas for Percy, and many involve his deep character. He's a strong, loyal hero... and I think that there are so many scenarios we don't consider- outside of his 'happy endings'. So this story is dedicated to the many possible things he could do due to his hero complex._

_Notes: One-shots are usually unrelated, unless said otherwise.  
_

_No flames, please review, yada-yada.  
_

* * *

_Run__  
_

Location/Time: _Argo II_

_"You can't just... just, disappear when you don't like something!" _

Percy snorted; she had _no _idea what he could and could not do. To make sure he proved her wrong, he'd done exactly what she said he couldn't do.

He left.

It wasn't a permanent leave, they both knew that- at least, he _hoped _she knew that. It was just a temporary leave until he got his head clear. Too many thoughts would cause him to act irrationally- wait; he'd already done that.

_"I don't see the problem here, Hazel." _

_"You run! You're a coward, okay?! You keep on protecting us, you keep doing your stupid 'hero' thing, but you just run away when something is too much for YOU!" Hazel's screams nearly shattered Percy's eardrums, but he ignored the volume. Instead of turning around and reassuring his cousin that he did no such thing as run, he walked to the door. _

_Giving her one last fleeting smile, he disappeared, out the door.  
_

She'd definitely have his head later, he decided. Annabeth could be scary when mad, and Percy knew far better than to tick her off, but Hazel was in her own league. It didn't have to do with her Roman inheritance, nor her parentage being of Pluto; no, it was just _her._ Something about her old-fashioned ways led to a rage that was so merciless, it made Annabeth's anger seem like it was just a small voice in his head.

Gods, did Hazel know how to yell.

Sitting atop the vast mast of the _Argo II, _Percy debated his next move carefully.

Tension between demigods was bad, but drama was worse. Especially if it was between two of seven; those two needing to know how to cooperate, otherwise the entire quest would end in death. On one hand, he knew he could apologize and tell her something personal that accounted for her accusation. Because, deep down, he _knew _she was right.

He did run. When it came to his own problems, he'd rather push them aside and ignore them or run away from them. He'd do anything and everything to help someone else's problems, going as far to devote his entire body and soul, just to help them be rid of them. He could care less about his own limitations when it came to his friends.

Yet, when it came to his own problems... he refused to let anyone close. Hazel was completely, utterly and undeniably right.

And he had no idea what to do about that.

'_Just apologize Jackson, it'll make everything easier.'_ That's what he kept telling himself. A part of him completely denied that outrageous claim; when had _anything _been made easier for him?

Percy sighed; what a predicament he was in now.

'_You're a coward, okay?!' _

That line ran through his head continuously, making its painful presence known to Percy. He scowled as Hazel's voice repeated in his mind, crystal clear, over and over.

'_Coward? Is that what I've amounted to? Being a cowardly son of Poseidon?'_

Percy couldn't help but wonder; was Hazel right about _everything_? Was he really a coward? Just because he dealt with his problems different, did that make him a coward? Hazel brooded over her problems endlessly, usually holding them close to her heart. Frank tried to hide his. Annabeth flat out ignored them and bottled them away. Leo laughed about his. Literally; he laughed when they came up. It was a defense-mechanism, Percy recognized that immediately. Piper, well, she didn't have any issues admitting hers at times. Jason tried to act tough about them, but it came to shove, he stored them away too.

So he ran... that was cowardly?

Percy sighed loudly, feeling his pent-up frustration demand release. He took several deep breaths, doing his best to put a clasp on his head, but couldn't shake the angry, yet disappointed, feeling that clouded his mind.

Percy jumped from the mast, throwing his caution to the wind as he landed on the deck with a heavy thud. It was easily more than a ten-foot drop and he'd done it as if he did it everyday. He winced as he took a few steps, his knees not absorbing the impact as well as he'd thought.

After a few more steps and telling the pain to scram, mentally, Percy drew Riptide, having no other way of venting his anger. The gleam of the Celestial Bronze sword gave a dull glow to the otherwise dark night.

Several experimental slashes and a few jabs later, Percy delved into deeper and more complex acts with Riptide. He practiced executing a new disarming method he'd come up with, but the end result came to be he losing his sword as Riptide clattered to the deck. Percy glared at his invisible enemy, as if they were laughing at him.

"Impressive."

Percy locked up, recognizing the voice immediately. His body went tense and his mind went into over-drive.

'_Run, run, run, run, run' _his body chanted, urging him to leave before the inevitable happened.

"I'm not going to yell anymore."

That settled it. He could run _if _she went against her word.

Percy picked up Riptide, but did not cap his precious sword for the glow allowed him to see Hazel's face. Her eyes were unwilling to meet his own and her face seem to be written in a way that he'd come to memorize as Annabeth trying to figure out how to apologize for over-insulting his intelligence.

_Could she be willing to apologize... even for being right? _Percy thought.

"Percy, I..." Hazel began, but stopped herself. "I wasn't right to say that stuff. It wasn't my place."

Percy sighed; it was close enough to be okay with. "You weren't _wrong _to say it, either."

"I just, I get frustrated. We all do; you're a very... intriguing hero," Hazel said. Percy internally thought she meant something completely different, but he would settle for intriguing. "We all have our things to deal with, and you are so different."

Before Percy could respond, she let loose a soft chuckle, as if it just occurred to her what she said.

"Imagine that; here I am, apologizing to you for yelling. When we first met, I didn't even consider I'd ever be yelling at you, let alone seeking you out in the middle of the night, just to say 'I'm sorry for being right'."

Percy couldn't help himself. "You aren't the first girl to seek me out in the middle of the night," he said with a smirk.

Even in the dark, he could see Hazel's blush, followed by her fanning the air around her.

"Percy! My, oh my..."

He couldn't help it; he laughed. Immediately, the tension seemed to vanish and the ice was gone. The issues of earlier seemed to be a thing of the past.

"But you're right; I do run. Maybe it's just who I am... I never had anyone or any way to deal with my problems. Maybe because the sea, when facing a problem, doesn't embrace or bottle it, but instead, drifts away from it..." Percy said, his tone decreasing as he talked. He couldn't help his gaze from turning to the open water that surrounded the _Argo II_.

He knew his father wasn't listening, but it was a comforting thought to be reminded that at least if he died, it would be in his father's domain.

"You don't _need _to run... you need to trust us," Hazel said sternly. She took a step forward and Percy felt the strange sensation to run return. Ignoring it, he sighed.

"I do. I really, truly do. But I don't want to burden you, either."

Hazel snorted, to which Percy looked up, surprised.

"You? Burden us? Funny; the way I see it, we come to _you _with all of _our _problems. We're the ones who burden you," Hazel said as she looked over the water next to the boat. Her eyes seemed to lightly reflect the water's calm surface, betraying her internal thoughts.

"Maybe, but I like it that way."

Hazel's head snapped to face him.

Continuing, Percy sighed. "Yeah, it's a hero thing. But I feel like I can help. I like helping. I don't want to be the one who brings you down with a problem that can't be helped. It's just... I can't be the one who hurts someone. I can't."

Hazel put her hand on Percy's shoulder- an accomplishment, seeing as how he was nearly 5 inches taller. She looked at him, directly in his sea-green eyes, and smiled at him.

"You won't." Her reply was simple and yet, it had every intended effect it needed. Percy _wanted_ to argue her, he _wanted _to find some kind of flaw with her simple response. But the more he thought, the less he actually found he could reason with.

He found he lost.

"Percy; we're not going to leave you alone until you share with us the truth. If you want to run, fine. But we're going to run with you, and we're not going to leave your side."

With that, Percy felt her presence seemingly... vanish. He snorted.

"She needs to stop spending time with Nico..."

* * *

_How was that? Bad ending? I wanted to end it a bit more humorously then just being like, 'and then he cried'. _

_So review and comment, fav and that stuff. No flaming, you know the drill. O.C.C, maybe, but I'll improve! (Hopefully)  
_

_'Till Next Time!  
_


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